Irrigation

One of the early difficulties with farming
and development in Nebraska was associated with the semiarid
climate. The possibilities of irrigation received almost immediate
attention. Today, along the Platte River for example, where instream
flows are estimated to be from twenty-five percent to as little
as ten percent of its historical flows, questions arise as to
how much more water can be utilized for development while maintaining
viable wildlife habitat. A century ago the issues, though difficult,
were much simpler in that the focus was on human need alone.
Excerpts from speeches given at the State Irrigation Association
meeting in Kearney, in February of 1894, provide insight into
both those times, and how much has changed in so short a time:

E. R. Moses hyped the benefits of private
investment in irrigation projects. He pointed out that many people
see irrigation as a large business investment; too big for most
to be able to afford. He contended that the benefits of wholesale
adoption of irrigation by people would pay for the costs of such
projects. He noted that in Scotts Bluff County, land that was
worth only $2 per acre was now valued at from $40 to $50 an acre,
primarily because of the widespread utilization of irrigation.
He commented that the time had come for the West to end its periodic
economic "ups and downs."

Judge J. E. Emery, of Lawrence, Kansas,
said that the question before all of the people of the United
States was, "What will we do for homes for our young men?
The homesteads are all gone. There is no Kansas or Nebraska to
go to. The only salvation is to irrigate and divide our lands
into smaller farms." He drew a word picture of the important
influence water could have on civilization by "lighting
the world and turning the wheels of commerce, and that the arid
lands of the West will have to be irrigated to catch and support
the drift of population westward." The judge felt that experiment
stations could do testing to determine what were the best methods
of utilizing water and said that definite results could be attained.
He cited California as an example: "All they have is sand
and water and look at the fruits they raise." Then he called
the Platte Valley an "immense canon filled with sand and
water, nobody knows how deep," and that consequently there
was a plentiful supply of water available.